Class Size

ARTICLES ABOUT CLASS SIZE BY DATE - PAGE 2

Class size Thanks to the story about Chicago Public Schools' optimal class size ("Closing critics rip CPS' 'ideal' class size," Page 1, March 6), I again feel frustrated and discouraged with the educational system in Chicago. My son is a kindergartner at our neighborhood CPS school. He has 31 kids in his class with one teacher and no aide. Both my husband and I volunteer in the classroom, so we've seen what his day is like. His teacher is great. And the kids are great.

Northwestern University's law school said Monday it will reduce class sizes, keep tuition increases at record lows and broaden financial aid to account for a decline in applications and help students leave the program with less debt. Starting with the class entering in the fall, class sizes will be reduced by 10 percent by admitting 20 to 25 fewer students. That will help reduce a rising number of law school graduates at a time of waning demand...

"Becky Carroll, a (Chicago Public Schools) spokeswoman, argued that big classes don't necessarily hamper learning. 'It's the quality of teaching in that classroom,' Carroll said. 'You could have a teacher that is high-quality that could take 40 kids in a class and help them succeed.'" - from Wednesday's Tribune front-page news story headlined "Closing critics rip CPS' 'ideal' class size" Perfectly true, of course. Big classes don't necessarily hamper learning.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's push to close dozens of schools hinges on a vision of the "ideal" size for kindergarten through eighth-grade classes as 30 students, far larger than is the case now in the typical Chicago classroom. That round number - little mentioned despite months of public debate - provides the simplest explanation yet for parents, students and teachers trying to understand why their schools are among 129 that could face closing. A Tribune examination of that figure amid a blizzard of data offers new clarity about how Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett are framing their case for improving the school system and wrestling with a budget deficit they peg at $1 billion next year.

Winnetka Public Schools District 36 is tweaking its summer school program to allow students more learning time while potentially saving the district thousands of dollars, officials said. The new Extended School Year, or ESY, classes, taught through the summer school program Adventures in Learning, will allow students to receive the remedial academic support they need in the context of a "fun summer camp," said Marcia Sutter, the district's community relations director. In the past, ESY students received about six hours of one-on-one instruction per summer in various subjects, but she added that under the new "robust summer school program," students in remedial learning will get an additional 40 minutes of daily instruction in reading, math, writing and other subjects.

West Chicago elementary school teachers will strike Monday if they have not reached a contract deal with the school board, union officials announced Tuesday. The announcement comes a week after members of the union representing teachers in District 33 met and 96 percent voted to authorize setting a strike date, officials said. “We are disappointed and disheartened that our professional negotiations have come down to this,” chief negotiator Mary Catherine Kosmach said in a press release. Negotiations have been ongoing for 16 months.

Teachers in Community Unit District 300 reached a deal with the school board late Tuesday to end a one-day walkout in the large far northwest suburban school district. Talks had broken down late Monday, prompting the district's more than 1,200 teachers to go on strike Tuesday and leaving more than 20,000 students out of class. School board member Joe Stevens announced after 9 p.m. Tuesday that, following talks that resumed at 2 p.m., the two sides has struck a three-year deal. No other details were immediately provided, but a union official called the agreement "fair to the teachers and responsible to the taxpayers.

Teachers in Community Unit District 300 reached a deal with the school board late Tuesday to end a one-day walkout and reopen classes Wednesday in the large, far northwest suburban school district. Talks had broken down late Monday, prompting the district's more than 1,200 teachers to go on strike Tuesday and leaving more than 20,000 students out of class. School board member Joe Stevens announced after 9 p.m. Tuesday that, after talks that resumed at 2 p.m., the two sides have struck a three-year deal.